The historic home of John P. Parker in Ripley. Photo by Wade Linville
The historic home of John P. Parker in Ripley recently took another huge step in becoming a unit of the National Park Service.
Part of the 2023 Omnibus Spending Package signed by President Joe Biden on Dec. 29 included legislation that requires the National Park Service to move forward with a special resource study to help determine the feasibility of adding the Parker House as a unit to the National Park Service.
John P. Parker, once a slave, bought his freedom and became an inventor, industrialist, and abolitionist who helped hundreds of slaves escape to freedom along the Underground Railroad.
A group of interested citizens of Ripley began meeting in the 1960s with hopes of having a tribute to John P. Parker. In 1996, the John P. Parker Historical Society, Inc. was formed, purchasing the former home of John P. Parker in its deteriorating condition with hopes of being able to restore the building.
Among the driving forces as a volunteer board member was the late Miriam Zachman of Ripley. Carol Stivers, current John P. Parker Historical Society President, has also played a huge role over the years in the quest to restore the Parker House and preserve a significant part of Ripley’s history, and so has Ripley resident and local historian Betty Campbell.
After the John P. Parker Historical Society, Inc. formed in 1996 and purchased the Parker House, a great deal of work came for the group of volunteers in the years that followed.
“Our organization spent the next six years researching, restoring, rehabbing, and conducting archaeological digs to find out as much history as possible to preserve the legacy of John P. Parker,” said Stivers.
The John P. Parker Society Inc. has received a great deal of support to help restore the Parker House, which is now a museum.
The John P. Parker Historical Society is now a member of the National Park Service Network to Freedom Program and the Parker House been a National Historic Landmark since 1967.
“The reasons we would like to become a Unit of the National Park Service is to give John P. Parker (1827-1900), the recognition that he deserves. Parker, born into slavery, bought his own freedom, became an abolitionist , an Underground Railroad Conductor, a foundry owner (Phoenix Foundry) and an inventor with three patents before 1900. By becoming a Unit of the National Park Service, we could ensure the legacy and home of John Parker would be promoted and protected for generations to come,” said Stivers.
Stivers traveled to Washington D.C. in July of 2022 to testify before the United States House of Representatives Committee on Natural Resources Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands during a legislative hearing on Congressman Brad Wenstrup’s bill to study whether to incorporate the John P. Parker House into the National Park System.